


What Chloé Doesn't Know

by Bookmonkey



Series: Sting Like a Bee [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Chloé present in thought, Embarrassed Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Gen, Laughter, Plagg Being Plagg, confused Adrien, tickle spot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-17 11:54:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20620604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookmonkey/pseuds/Bookmonkey
Summary: This is where I'll collect all the alternative points of views or scenes Chloé wasn't a part of from Float Like a Butterfly...Sting Like a Bee.This work is gifted to two of the winners from my Cliff Hanger contest back in Chapter 53 of FLB...STB. The first two chapters of this work are inspired by them.Ainear's quote inspired the Adrien POV tickle scene after remembering some of the ridiculous things Adrien's photographer says to get him to show certain emotions.Crisis21 commented about things being tense, so I decided to jump into another tense moment, the Kwami argument in Pollen's point of view.





	1. The Tickle Scene

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ainear](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ainear/gifts), [Crisis21](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crisis21/gifts).

> If you haven't read Float Like a Butterfly...Sting Like a Bee then some of these scenes might not make as much sense. I suppose you don't have to read FLB...STB if you're feeling rebellious. I'll do my best to mention the chapter(s) the scene takes place in, to help orientate readers as to what has happened before and after.
> 
> This one took place in Chapter 32, the day of the modeling contest.

“Show me the money!” The photographer yelled as he held the camera nearly the size of his head up. Flash. Click. “Come on, the money making smile!” Adrien stretched his smile, but he still knew it wasn't what the photographer was looking for. “What about your mother's spaghetti!” Flash. Click.

_It's not the same. Same words, different voice. _

Adrien didn't think he was picky, considering all the various kinds of photo shoots he had done since he was kid. But he was surrounded by people he didn't know, and that felt odd. It was weird to realize he had pretty much always dealt with the same handful of people for years. And now there was not a familiar face in sight.

_Except Marinette._

His classmate, a tentative friend, an intern for this photo shoot. Adrien had seen glimpses of her, running around. At this stage she was mostly fetching outfits and things.

The photographer sighed. A woman working for the magazine footing the bill for this contest looked at Adrien and down at her clipboard with pursed lips. Adrien tried to adjust his smile, but he knew his body, knew what the kind of smile they wanted felt like on his face.

_It's not fair._

“Everyone take five!” The woman called out, sighing down at her clipboard. Adrien sighed too. He shook out his hands, and then feet. Adrien brought a hand to his chest, even though there was not pocket there, no extra warmth. Nothing in the outfit had pockets.

_Plagg gets to hide in my trailer, eating camemberet._

Adrien's hands came up, but he froze before his fingers could mess up the hairdo some other lady had worked hard to create.

_It doesn't make sense._

Adrien participating in this contest, perfect sense. Marinette snagging one of the coveted internships, also made perfect sense. She had impressed his father of all people. Alya supporting Marinette with a glowing nomination, also made sense.

_But Chloé's..._

Adrien had been trying to wrap his mind around it since the magazine had posted their announcement of the internship winners. There Adrien had seen Chloé, on the other side of Marinette, eyes caught in a trap, but smirking because something still went right.

_Caught in the middle of some scheme...but what? And why?_

Nino had explained Alya's feelings over it. Alya had thought Chloé was going to sabotage Marinette and only make her dreams of becoming a fashion designer that much harder. But Adrien wasn't so sure that was it.

Adrien glanced around, most people had decided to take their five either at the bathroom, or near the set up of food. Adrien watched the woman in charge flip through the papers on her clipboard, and then gave him a strange look. Adrien took a deep breath, and walked over to her.

_Chloé manages to see things she shouldn't all the time..._

“Excuse me,” Adrien shifted on his feet, before he looked the woman in the eyes. “I was wondering if I could see the letter Chloé Bourgeois sent in, her recommendation of Marinette Dupain-Cheng?”

“Didn't she tell you? Aren't you two friends?” The woman blinked.

“No, she didn't tell me. And we are friends, she just, er,” Adrien scratched at the back of his neck. “Chloé and Marinette don't really get along. So I was surprised. That Chloé recommended Marinette, since they don't really get along, not that Marinette isn't a great designer, because she is, I mean, she won my father's bowler hat competition at school. And she's kind, helpful, has passionate about her designs, and she has a grace under pressure my father is always complaining his interns don't have...” Adrien coughed to cut off his own, unhelpful for his cause, ramble.

_Chloe would have gotten it by now with her father on speed dial._

“It's not like it matters, the interns have been picked, I can't change that.” Adrien sighed.

_I could try to use my father's name. But if she calls my bluff, and my father hears of it, I'll only get us both in trouble._

“I'll say they don't get along.” The woman waved to the photographer. “Chloé tried to steal Marinette's bowler design.” The woman nodded to Adrien, “Why don't you go get some water kid? I'm going to talk to the photographer.” Adrien nodded, because the news certainly left his throat dry.

_But my father never mentioned any attempt of cheating when publicly announcing the winner._

Adrien grabbed a cold water bottle off the table, taking a few sips, careful not to drip condensation on his clothes.

_So...the only way this woman knows, is if Alya, Marinette, or Chloé herself said something in the application process._

Adrien rolled the bottle between his hands, glancing at the woman and the photographer.

_Chloé wouldn't have gained anything from telling them the truth._ _Though that could explain the deer in the headlights, learning the company knows of her cheating through the other applications. _

The photographer once again was grabbing his camera and waving his arms for his assistants.

_Marinette wouldn't have said anything...she confronted Chloé on the matter, and as far as she's concerned, that's that._

Adrien frowned at the bottle of water. His hands were getting cold.

_So...Alya. She's...well. She's all about the truth, so if she were to discuss the bowler hat competition she would talk about Chloé cheating._

It all made sense. For a moment anyway.

_But why would Chloé recommend Marinette get an internship for this in the first place?_

Adrien thought he understood Chloé. They had been best friends for years. She was the first kid his age he was even allowed to hang out with outside his own home.

_Even if we were still regulated to her father's hotel. _

Adrien knew she was harsh, pessimistic, spoiled, and jaded. But he also had seen a side of her she kept hidden from the rest of the world on purpose. Though Adrien didn't agree with her reasoning, he thought he understood why. The same way he understood her insulting him, and then him in return, was their way of being able to not take the insults of the rest of the world personally.

_And then...she changed._

The Chloé Adrien knew. The Chloé who protected him from people seeking to use him for money or fame, the Chloé who taught him how to play house, the Chloé who would throw a fit and demand a huge bowl of ice cream, eat maybe half and then insist he eat the other half because otherwise it would go to waste.

_She always seemed to know when I was craving something sweet, and couldn't have it because of my diet._

Chloé had found a way to beat the isolation, the paranoia, the suffocating love of famous parents time and time again. And she brought Adrien along with her. Chloé had found ways to get what she wanted, and what he wanted, without ever asking anything in return. Or at least, anything that Adrien wasn't prepared to, or wouldn't give.

_Just...friendship. An understanding of each other. _

Adrien crunched the plastic in his hands. He frowned down at the bottle.

_And then...I broke it._

Adrien got to go to public school, a freedom he had been dreaming of, but couldn't get, even his mother had failed that argument, and that's when Adrien saw a side of Chloé he didn't think was possible. Cruel words, political threats, maniacal laughter, showing off, haughtiness, and insults that could rip hearts in two.

_And always with that same smirk like we were playing a game and she was winning._

But Adrien had refused to play along. He had tried to help her. Adrien tried to reach out and figure out what new hurt could have twisted her, but it seemed all she wanted from him, was to show him off too. Calling him pet names, always hugging him, still trying to keep people away from him, when all he wanted now, was to make more connections with kids his own age.

_What made her become the very kind of person we hated running into at all those parties?_

Adrien had asked himself time and time again. And he couldn't figure it out, because her life was the same, maybe even better than it had been in some ways.

_And it was in an instant, because one day, she was the Chloé I knew. And the next, she was..._

Adrien knew what people called Chloé. And even if he agreed she wasn't being nice or fair, he still couldn't quite call her those names. Not the person who who had been his best friend, his only friend, a true friend.

_She hates school. She hates being cooped up and told what to do all day. And yet...when I needed her most, she followed all the rules my father gave her, just to keep me company._

Adrien picked at the label on the water bottle.

_And yet...this year, I asked her to do the same. And she can't. Something's wrong. Even with Pollen and powers and being a hero...something is so wrong we can't be friends outside of our hero duties._

But that wasn't helping. Adrien was the best friend he could be to Queen Bee, but still something was wrong.

_Something has to be really wrong, if she was after the Miraculous._

And yet...she could have run off with the ring, but she didn't. She changed her plans, she continued to make herself miserable.

_For...me?_

Because Chloé had been proud of her accomplishment until she saw his face. And then, she was horrified. And then...she promised him she was on his side.

_But...why?_

Adrien heard a squeak. He dropped the water bottle and reached out, wrapping his fingers around Marinette's biceps, stopping her fall.

“Are you okay Marinette?” Adrien tilted his head.

_There's the blush._

“S-sorry. Me, um she, uh, I,”

_And the stuttering and mixed up words._

“S-sorry.” Marinette's hands moved up, right under his shoulders, fingers in his armpits. Adrien started laughing. Laughing hard enough he had to let go of Marinette and pull back so he was out of tickling range. Adrien blinked as he started to calm down. And then he was smiling at Marinette. She looked a little dazed.

Flash. Click. Flash. Click. Flash. Click.

_I haven't laughed like that since school let out._

“Mari-” Marinette blinked and then ran off. “nette.” Adrien sighed as she ran off, probably off to do more internship duties.

_ The girl who can barely look me in the eye, can't speak in a complete sentence...tickled me?_

“We got it this time.The money making smile!” The photographer came over and held out his camera. “Volia! All the girls will melt over this smile!” Adrien nodded, though he wasn't thinking about the contest.

_The only person who knows how ticklish my armpits are...is Chloé._

“Thank you Adrien.” The woman smiled as she came over. “You may return to your trailer and go home.” Adrien nodded.

“Thank you for having me.” Adrien grabbed the water bottle he had dropped. He went back to his trailer. He grabbed his phone, and grinned. He would have some extra time before fencing.

_I mean, it's a shame the tutor's sick, but..._

Adrien sent a text to Chloé before he started getting changed.

“Why are you smiling, after being forced to smile?” Plagg grumbled as he phased out of the mini fridge.

“I smile.” Adrien carefully hung his shirt up.

“Not lately.” Plagg rolled his eyes. “Ever since school let out, you've been moping.”

“Have not.” Adrien rolled his eyes as he reached for the hanger for his pants.

_Have I?_

“Liar.” Plagg yawned. “I mean, your life was boring before, but summer, I mean, it's been soooo boring.” Plagg flopped onto Adrien's head. “No wonder you wanted Chloé around, she'd find a way to keep things interesting.”

_Yeah. She always has._

Adrien glanced at his phone. “I hope she's okay.”

“Chlo?” Plagg snorted. “She's one of the best matches for the Bee Miraculous I've ever seen. If she wasn't on our side, we'd need more backup to handle her.”

“I wasn't talking about the whole Bee thing.” Adrien pulled on his father's clothes again.

_At least...I don't think I am._

“Neither was I kid.” Plagg jumped into his pocket. Adrien was happy to have the comforting warmth back. “Now let's get out of here before more people start yelling at you about food and money. Their voices carried all the way over here, and it made me hungry!” Adrien chuckled as he exited the trailer.

_Always about the cheese._

Adrien stepped out of the trailer and saw Marinette walking his way. “Marinette!” Adrien waved, grinning. Her eyes widened and she froze. Adrien walked closer. “Thanks. I needed that.” Marinette's face turned red. “But uh...” Adrien scratched at his neck. “was it a lucky guess or-”

“Chloé said you wouldn't be mad!” Marinette blurted and then slapped her hands over her mouth.

_That girl and her schemes._

“I'm not mad.” Adrien held up his hands. “I was just, curious.”

_Why would Chloe tell you my tickle spot?_

Adrien chaneled Chat Noir's mischievous grin. “I haven't laughed since school let out.” Adrien put his hand on Marinette's shoulder. “It was long overdue and I owe you one.” Marinette nodded, but kept her hands firmly clamped over her mouth.

_Why do you treat me so differently from everyone else? _

Adrien spotted the badge hanging around Marinette's neck and a pen hanging on her shirt collar.

_Are you nervous because of my fame?_

Adrien grabbed the badge, leaving the lanyard still around her neck, and plucked the pen from her shirt. She blinked and watched as he signed the back of her badge.

_But then...what about Chat? And Bee? Wouldn't their fame make you nervous too?_

“You didn't have too,” Marinette tilted her head.

“It's the least I could do.” Adrien let go of the badge and held out the pen. “Let me know the next time you, Nino, and Alya are hanging out. If I'm not with tutors or modeling, I can at least face time again.”

“O-okay.” Marinette took the pen and smiled. “Though p-person better be.” She scrunched up her face in frustration and her tongue peaked out from between her lips. “It would be better to see you in person.” Marinette grinned, at him, meeting his gaze and everything.

_Not too many people smile so genuinely at me._

The moment was gone when the photographer ran up. “Miss Dupain-Cheng! You have to see the photos before you go!” Marinette went red again, and then the camera was blocking Adrien's view of her face.

Adrien's phone went off. He glanced at it, sighing. It wasn't Chloé. Just Gorilla, ready to take him back to his boring house. Adrien raised his hand up, just remembering to wave instead of doing his Chat Noir salute. “I'll see you later Marinette.”

_At least I hope so._

She tilted her head around the camera to look at him again. “Of course!” Marinette beamed, a slight waver in her smile, but there was more than enough enthusiasm in her voice that Adrien didn't question if the statement was true.

_Marinette wants to hang out with me!_

Adrien walked to his car.

_Chloé and Marinette hate each other._

Adrien frowned at his phone, still waiting for Chloé's reply.

_So...how did Chloé convince Marinette to tickle me?_

Gorilla put the car in drive. Adrien sighed. “Plagg,” he muttered, “I don't understand girls.” Plagg cackled in his pocket.


	2. The Kwami Argument

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pollen knows Tikki won't support Chloé or her plans without scrutiny. Pollen knows Tikki won't be too happy with Pollen's choice this time around since she hasn't been happy since last time. 
> 
> Pollen didn't know Tikki's grudge was going to dredge up all the bad memories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This scene took place in chapter 25 of FLB...SLB.

Pollen watched her Chosen lean on the windowsill, looking up at the darkened sky. Pollen knew Chloé was contemplating the upcoming discussion with the other two Kwamis. As well as everything else.

It may have been Pollen's idea, her compromise so Chloé didn't have to do what she really feared, which was talking to the other Chosens and then having them turn on her. But Pollen was a little scared too.

Tikki had barely spoken to her in decades. Pollen wasn't sure how Tikki would react. But nothing that was happening was Chloé's fault. She was doing her best with terrible circumstances. Just like Eva.

Pollen wasn't going to watch Chloé isolate herself from the people who could, who would help her, like Eva did.

Plagg zipped in first. Pollen smiled at him. At least Plagg was here too. If it was just Pollen and Tikki, well, she wasn't sure what would happen.

Tikki followed, and Pollen hated the scrutiny of Tikki's gaze on Chloé. How she disapproved of Chloé without knowing anything about Chloé's journey. How she thought Chloé wasn't worthy when Chloé was a better match for Pollen than Eva ever was.

And that, unfortunately, had been part of the problem. And could become a problem with Chloé too. If she continued to let the world define her, if she continued to think the worst of herself, if she let her emotions override what was normally very rational thoughts.

Pollen rested on Chloé's shoulder. They were a team after all.

“Really Pollen?” Tikki's voice was more scornful towards her, instead of Chloé. Which made sense. Pollen bristled, on the edge of defending Chloé with every fiber of her being, but didn't want to make things worse.

Luckily, Plagg dissolved some of the tension. He was able to deflate Tikki's scorn by admitting Chloé was helping his Chosen not be miserable. Pollen waited for her Chosen to return with the snacks, the peace offerings really.

Pollen wasn't sure how much it would help with Tikki, but Pollen saw Plagg dive right into the camemberet. He may act a bit more primal, but Pollen knew he was actually more open minded than he appeared. He hid a soft heart behind his bottomless stomach.

Pollen prodded Chloé to start the business, while Pollen hid her own tense feelings. Pollen leaned against Chloé's neck. With a bit of promting from Plagg, some of Chloé's story came out. Her past with Hawk Moth, and how she had been able to get her hands on Chat's Miraculous. And the fallout from that discovery.

Bits and pieces of emotional explanations followed, from Chloé's determination to help Adrien, to some of her fears with Hawk Moth and his identity. Pollen noticed Chloé didn't say anything about Wasp, which she wasn't surprised. It wasn't a power to be taken lightly, it wasn't something which should be widely known.

Tikki and Plagg already knew about the power, so all that would be news is that Pollen had told Chloé. It was something Pollen hadn't done before, to warn her Chosen about such power before every other possible avenue was explored.

So when Tikki asked Chloé if there was anything else she wanted to share, and when Chloé said no. Pollen knew she had to speak up. Chloé needed support, especially if she transformed into Killer Wasp. Pollen didn't want the heroes to attack her, or lash out, and for that to happen, the Kwamis had to be aware of Chloé's knowledge.

“I told her about Killer Wasp.” Pollen spoke quietly. Even close to Chloé's ear, she wasn't sure if the girl could hear her clearly, but she knew the Kwamis would hear her. Plagg kept eating, but Tikki reacted strongly.

“You what!” Tikki stood and pointed at her. Pollen didn't repeat herself, held herself still though she wanted to shrink back and hide behind Chloé's neck. Pollen stared, watching Tikki's antenna vibrate as she yelled at Pollen about her choice to inform Chloé about her other power.

Tikki acted like she knew better, like she understood Killer Wasp and the possible repercussions better than Pollen. The Kwami of Creation should know better than to think she understood this, an aspect of destruction, better than the one who was tied to it.

Pollen had enough of letting Tikki's misinformed mind push her around. Pollen flew closer, balancing on the handle of the thing which had covered the peace offerings. “How dare I!” Tikki didn't know, Tikki made assumptions, Tikki thought she was wisest, but if she were as wise as she thought, she wouldn't be yelling at Pollen on which information to share with her Chosen. Pollen pointed out Tikki's hypocrisy, in yelling at Pollen for not telling her Chosen during the war and yet now yelling at her for telling Chloé before a mistake had happened.

“If my last Chosen couldn't handle the guilt of accidentally, unknowingly killing an enemy she had no connections to, do you think Chloé could handle doing the same to someone she knows!” Pollen had thought this through. With the transformation being tied to anger, to being sometimes an instinct, her Chosen reacting on impulse, Pollen tried to explain why she had warned her Chosen.

Pollen remembered the anger, linked to fear when Gabriel had threatened Chloé. Pollen had felt the rush, and had Chloé thought of transforming and fighting as an option, it would have happened as Killer Wasp. Pollen narrowed her eyes at Tikki, willing the other bug to understand she was just trying to protect her Chosen from doing something so terrible, something she would never be able to forget, something even heavier to regret for the rest of her life. It was a burden someone so young should never be shouldered with, especially without even realizing it until it was too late.

This was the first time Pollen had stood up to Tikki's opinions. Pollen clenched her fists as Tikki puffed up. Plagg tried to calm Tikki, but she pushed him away. And then she pushed Pollen. Pollen waved her arms and fluttered her wings so she didn't topple off the handle. Tikki advanced, backing Pollen down the length of the handle.

Tikki accused Pollen of being at fault in 1943, of misplacing her guilt on Tikki. Pollen clenched her fists and glared at Tikki, but it was getting harder to hold her composure. 1943 was a rough year. Eva, poor Eva.

So many secrets. Eva had to hide, both as Queen Bee and as Eva. One death may have saved hundreds, but poor Eva hadn't made the choice consciously. She was protecting her family, her community, and she did that.

Pollen hadn't warned Eva, because it was a last resort, even in human war magical consequences were to be avoided. And Eva was scared to open up, because of how many other people were doing horrible things. Just because they wore masks and did heroic deeds, the person underneath could be anyone. If a uniform could change a person, or a badge, then magic certainly could.

Pollen should do something, say anything, defend herself. But all those horrible moments, those moments of hiding, of being surrounded by fear, were wrapping around her and making it hard to breathe, much less be able to defend herself.

Pollen barely registered when Plagg tackled Tikki off the food cart. Pollen blinked. The stony silence had been better. Being ignored was better than being yelled at.

The yelling just put Pollen back inside Eva's pocket. Crouching with fear in cellars, scrounging for food half rotten on the edges of the ghettos. Eva holding back screams when the guards caught her sneaking back in again. Those people, it had been so hard to remember that humans were good, that she was sent to help protect them, when Pollen was witness to such atrocities.

Pollen knew there was still talking. She knew things were happening around her. But all she heard was sobs. Eva's sobs, her family's, so many people sobbing. And footsteps, heavy breathing, screaming, the heartbreaking sounds of stomachs growling.

Pollen was wrapped by warm hands, but she fled. She fled as the sobs choked her, as her muscles began to tighten, as her wings began to droop. Pollen ducked into her small hive. A tiny space, yet way more than she had with Eva. It was, proportionally, larger than the rooms Eva had shared with her family when they were forced to leave their home.

Pollen felt when Tikki and Plagg left. But that didn't slow Pollen's sobs. Chloé spoke, then silence, and then, she scooped Pollen up again. Pollen wrapped her arms around Chloé's thumb, she buried her head against her skin.

Pollen had failed Eva. Pollen hadn't bothered trying to fight the transformation to Killer Wasp, hadn't thought to warn Eva though she saw the signs of festering anger. And then, Pollen couldn't find the right words. Eva had killed one. The man she had killed had probably taken hundreds, maybe thousands, to their deaths.

Eva thought being a hero meant being noble, being better, being good. To have blood on her hands left Eva reeling.

_“I'm no better than them.” _

_ “Not now.”_

_ “I killed him Pollen.”_

_ “And I didn't even know.”_

_ “Do they know?”_

_ “Are they also blinded by something, an idea or magic, and don't realize how bad they are acting?”_

_ “Heroes don't kill people Pollen.”_

_ “I'm sorry.”_

Pollen should have tried harder. But she had failed. Her own anger, own mistrust of humanity after all the humans who had done horrible things to Eva and her family, blinded Pollen. Maybe she knew the right words, but she couldn't say it in the right way to convince Eva that the one death was worth it.

Pollen curled up against Chloé's chest.

_“I can't take his Miraculous. I can't do that. Not to him.”_

Pollen wasn't going to loose Chloé.

_“I'm not going to lose Adrien's freedom. I won't tell him about his father.”_

_ Chloé's not blind to the problems of humanity. But she's blind to her own worth._

_ The death of Adrien's father, accidentally, by her hands, would destroy her. _

So what if no one else agreed, Pollen would do whatever she had to, whatever was necessary, to guide Chloé through this. Chloé needed her. Together, the two of them would get through anything, external pressures, and internal darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For guessing right and another thanks for catching all those little grammar slips up Crisis21!


End file.
